Police Beat 2/13/2019: Don’t Look Behind You

Blade Escape

Anyone walking alone at night fears turning around to see someone with a weapon behind them. That’s exactly what happened to one UA student.

A female student called the University of Arizona Police Department after she was followed by a man holding a knife on Jan. 30.

An officer met the student near Sixth Street Garage at approximately 10:45 p.m.

The student told the officer she had been standing at the crosswalk near Sixth Street and Fremont Avenue waiting for the light to change so she could cross the street.

She then noticed three men behind her, who she suspected came from the Environment and Natural Resources 2 Building. The men were talking, but she could not hear what the topic of their conversation was.

She turned around to get a better look at the men and saw one of the men had a knife in his hands with the blade out.

The student suspected it may have been a switchblade, as it was too big to be a pocket knife.

The light changed, and the student crossed the road. The men were still walking behind her. The student said she felt they may have been following her.

The student began to run through the parking garage until she got to her car. She told the officer she hid for a while before she was sure the men were no longer nearby.

She reported that she felt scared and “freaked out” when the men were walking behind her. She believed if she had had been closer to them, she could have been hurt.

The student gave a description of the three men to the officer and said she was confident she would be able to identify the men if they were found. However, she did not want to pursue the issue within the criminal justice system.

After hearing the student’s account, the officer surveyed the area around Sixth Street Garage and ENR2, looking for surveillance cameras that may have caught the incident on tape. However, only one camera was in the area, and it did not capture the area where the student said the event occurred.

UAPD units drove around the nearby area but did not find anyone matching the student’s description of the men.

Ex-box

Living with a dorm roommate can leave you drowning in problems, especially when they cross the line into messing with property.

A UAPD officer arrived at Manzanita-Mohave Residence Hall at approximately 8:30 p.m. after a student called to report property damage in her dorm room on Jan. 26. She believed she knew who had been behind the damage — her own roommate.

The student told the officer that back in September 2018, she had discovered her Xbox One gaming console sitting in a puddle of liquid. It no longer worked, and when she brought the Xbox to a Microsoft kiosk, the kiosk employee told her that the console was beyond repair.

The Xbox was valued at around $300. Her parents bought her a new one, and the student did not know how the water had gotten there for several months.

Then, on Jan. 26, two of the student’s friends told her they had been hanging out with the student’s roommate, who said she had destroyed the Xbox.

The student told the officer she suspected the roommate may have done it because in late August 2018 her roommate could not find some of her marijuana and blamed the theft on the student. The student denied taking it and explained she did not even smoke.

The student said she and her roommate generally ignore each other’s presence and “just co-exist in the same room.” However, she expressed concern over the possibility of her roommate damaging more of her property.

She was not in fear for her personal safety and did not want to press criminal charges, so the officer offered several civil solutions.

The officer told her she could bring the issue up with the hall director, who could look at the case, or she could submit a complaint with the Dean of Students Office.

He also advised her that if she did wish to press charges or become afraid for her personal safety, she could call UAPD or 911.

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